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Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Sirius XM app soars even without Howard Stern

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Jul 6th, 2009

Sirius XM reports today that the iPhone app [App Store] it released June 18th has become the top free download in the Music Category on iTunes.

It has been grabbed more than 1 million times either by Sirius XM subscribers or people who did not have Sirius hardware and simply wanted to pay the US$13.00 a month fee for access to the 120 plus channels available.

"Reaching more than 1 million downloads so quickly is a strong testament to our world-class programming and SIRIUS XM's instant brand recognition," said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer of SIRIUS XM Radio. "Our goal is to give people access to the best audio entertainment wherever they go with what we think is the best music and audio entertainment application available on the App Store."

The numbers are impressive but the subscribers still can't listen to Howard Stern who is one of the big draws to the satellite broadcaster. Sirius really hasn't had any substantive comment about omitting Stern, but the issue appears to be Stern himself, who wants more money to be offered on cellular devices. On his daily show in June he said "It was a rights thing, a contractual rights thing, It was a rights issue and a whole entanglement thing. So, we're not on it. Maybe one day we will be."

Although the app is a very popular download, it has very negative reviews at the App Store. As of this morning more than 38,000 reviewers gave it one star, more than twice all the other ratings combined.

Tags: app store, howard Stern, iPhone, iPod touch, Sirius XM

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Sirius XM app now live at the app store

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Jun 18th, 2009

As expected Sirius has released the free iPhone/iPod touch app so satellite radio fans can listen wherever they go if they have an online subscription. The Sirius XM [App Store] offering is said to include 120 channels. The write up on iTunes does not mention Howard Stern, but says nothing definitive one way or the other. That's a bit ominous.

The app also allows you to purchase songs you hear at the iTunes store, and has a favorite channels setting. The app runs on OS 2.2.1 but has been tested on the just released iPhone/touch 3.0.

The channel selection is set up for both Sirius and XM subscribers. Sirius is offering a 7 day free trial for non-subscribers to try the service and see if they like it. This app has been expected for a long time, ever since the iPhone was first announced. A lot has changed in satellite radio since then, and it will be interesting to watch the dynamics of people getting their satellite radio with an Apple product rather than a dedicated satellite receiver.

Happy listening. (Update: Readers are telling us no Howard Stern, no MLB or NFL games. Oh my.)

Thanks to reader John Mackay for the tip.

Tags: app, app store, breaking news, BreakingNews, iPhone, iPod touch, satellite radio, SatelliteRadio, sirius xm, streaming radio

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Sirius-XM iPhone app coming 'real soon'

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on May 28th, 2009

Sirius XM has revealed a screen shot of the soon to be released iPhone/iPod touch app that will stream the satellite channels to eager listeners. The image of the upcoming app was part of an SEC filing that was included in a PowerPoint presentation shown at a recent shareholder meeting.

The app, which is expected to be free, will require a US$3.00/month streaming subscription for current subscribers, and a US$13.00 monthly fee for non-subscribers. No specific release date is known, but it is thought to be very soon.

The company says the app will deliver music channels, sports, talk, news and comedy programming. We've already reported that Sirius had expected to offer the application this spring.

The satellite company has been in financial difficulties and has been losing subscribers faster than it is signing up new ones. The weak economy and drop off in new car sales are an especially tough environment to grow the business. The merger of XM and Sirius was generally thought to have been handled badly, and many people dropped their subscriptions, which has given a boost to internet radio and services like Pandora and Last.fm, although neither service is easily accessible in a car.

Tags: app store, iPhone, iPod touch, satellite radio, Sirius xm, streaming radio

Filed under: Software, iPhone

XM or Sirius on your Mac without a browser

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Jan 3rd, 2009

Rogue Amoeba has just released a public preview of their new desktop player for XM and Sirius called Pulsar. It provides instant access to either service, or both, and since the recent merger of the services they are pretty similar anyway.

The application does not require a browser and can just sit on your desktop pumping out that Sat-Rad love.

There is a free public preview that plays for 20 minutes and then overlays noise on the audio. If you ever bought a product from Rogue Amoeba, they will let you download a fully working app for free. If you haven't, you can get a license key for 15 dollars. The app is not a 1.0 version yet, but seems to work from most reports posted to the web. I tried it myself on both XM and Sirius. At first, it failed with some XML parsing errors, so I shut it down and tried later, and it worked just fine.

It should be noted that there are some other ways to listen besides buying an app or listening through your browser. One promising solution is the donation-ware app called StarLightXM. The software requires a streaming plug-in, so check the documentation. StarLightXM works on both satellite services. I tried a new build which came out yesterday and it worked fine. Beta 6 of the player can be found here.

Of course for any of these solutions to work, you'll need an online subscription to satellite radio. Both services will let you try their online offerings for 3 days for free, and both Sirius and XM have hinted they may be creating their own players, including one for the iPhone, but so far nothing has appeared. The developers who did the StarLightXM desktop app also say they are going to have an XM/Sirius player for the iPhone/iPod touch soon.

Tags: sirius satellite radio, sirius xm, streaming, xm radio

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